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Women's Volleyball Travels to Wisconsin

Following a runner-up finish at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge last weekend, the Bruins now travel to Madison, Wis., for the 14th annual InnTowner Invitational. The Bruins are coming off a weekend in which they cruised to a three-game win over Cal State Northridge before surviving a five-game battle with Cincinnati and losing a four-game match to the host Rainbow Wahine. At this weekend's InnTowner Invitational, UCLA will face a one-loss Valparaiso squad, an undefeated Villanova team and a top-10 foe in host Wisconsin. Sunday's match against Wisconsin will be broadcast live by CSTV.

Valparaiso (8-1)Winners of seven straight matches and eight of the team's first nine contests, Valparaiso and UCLA will play the first match of the 2005 InnTowner Invitational on Friday evening. The Crusaders are coached by Carin Avery (Ball State `96), who is in her fourth year at Valparaiso. Valpo won the Mid-Continent Conference last season and lost its first-round NCAA match to Notre Dame in four games last December. Friday marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Villanova (10-0)An undefeated Villanova squad will open the InnTowner Invitational on Friday night against host Wisconsin before facing UCLA on Saturday at 5 pm CT. The Wildcats are led by second-year head coach Gilad Doron (Temple `00), who piloted the Wildcats to a ninth-place BIG EAST finish last season. Saturday will be the first meeting between UCLA and Villanova.

Wisconsin (5-1); NCAA Volleyball on CSTV: AVCA Match of the Week Wisconsin and UCLA enter this weekend's InnTowner Invitational with matching 5-1 records for the 2005 season. Wisconsin's loss also came last Saturday in a 3-0 loss to No. 14 Missouri. Wisconsin is coached by Pete Waite (Ball State `81), who is in his seventh year with the Badgers. UCLA leads the all-time series with Wisconsin by a 2-1 margin, although Wisconsin won the most recent meeting in a classic five-game struggle in the 2000 NCAA Regional Final at the Wisconsin Field House. The teams were tied at 12-12 in the fifth and deciding game before the Badgers pulled out the 7-15, 15-5, 14-16, 16-14, 12-15 victory to advance to the 2000 NCAA national semifinals.

Banachowski Nears 1,000th VictoryEntering the InnTowner Invitational with a career record of 989-256 (.794), UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski needs just 11 more wins to become the first Collegiate Women's Volleyball head coach with 1,000 career wins. In his 39th season on the Bruin bench, Banachowski trails only UCLA men's coach Al Scates, for whom Banachowski was a setter during his collegiate career, in career victories in college volleyball coaching. (Scates holds a career record of 1109-200.) The first women's volleyball coach to be inducted into the National Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Mass., Banachowski has coached the Bruins to six national championships, including three NCAA titles.